


All the Way Home

by aries_antagonist



Series: Naruto AU Week 2021 Collection! [3]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because that’s what they deserveeedddddd, Everyone’s 23 or so, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Good Sakura and Sasuke Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, I Think I Balanced The Heavy and the Light Okay, M/M, Naruto AU Week 2021, No Smut, Overly Forgiving Naruto, Pining Uchiha Sasuke, Scaredy Cat Sasuke, beach au, kinda ambiguous ending, light fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:20:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29329953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aries_antagonist/pseuds/aries_antagonist
Summary: “I meant it, Sasuke. Figure your shit out.”He didn’t tear his gaze away from the surf, moving in steadier now. The moon had finally come center stage in the sky, refracting small pieces of itself over the black waves. He couldn't hear anything else but the swish of water escaping into sand as Sakura finally left the beach. The ocean hadn’t been anything like this in the future, he didn’t realize how much he had missed it. It was peaceful, he was peaceful. If only for a moment, and he’d take it either way.Figure my shit out. I wish it was that easy. Isn’t that what I’ve been trying to do for the past, I don’t know, eight years? Longer, if you count the time we were gone...They’re back in their original timeline, but Sasuke isn’t ready for time to catch up to him.Day 3 of Naruto AU Week! Prompt: Time TravelSNS, No Smut, Complete! Sasuke’s POV again because that’s always where I thrive.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Naruto AU Week 2021 Collection! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155266
Kudos: 12
Collections: Naruto AU Week 2021, Naruto AUs





	All the Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> My eyes are bleary! I haven’t stopped typing since Sunday! I’m having so much fun in this Naruto AU Week Marathon, I’m gonna tuck my keyboard away for like a week after all of this is over haha. I’m really happy with this one, but please keep in mind I’m writing these all in fewer than four hours and haven’t gotten the chance to really edit any! 
> 
> I think I’ve gotten most of the spelling and syntax and readability things right, though! 
> 
> So, I’ll shut up and let you read now. Enjoy! This is another sappy pining, confused Sasuke piece because I can’t seem to get enough.

“Oh my god, don’t tell me all the rooms are taken already!” 

“Karin, where’s the bathroom?”

“Who wants to go down to the beach now?!” 

The house was chaotic. 

Sasuke pulled one of the wicker chairs out from the end of the glass table, settling into the far end by the back door. He curled his bare legs onto the chair, the evening had cooled off considerably and Kiba insisted that opening the windows would “air out” their house rental. 

At least the miso soup was hot. He silently thanked whoever had thought to make some after the long drive. He held it gingerly between both hands over the table, the steam wafting off the top of the bowl.

Everyone milled around him, loudly chattering to each other, excitedly settling into the giant house they’d rented for the next week. Sasuke had just tossed his bag into the smallest room at the end of the second floor hall after the rest of the rooms had been claimed. He didn’t mind, at least he’d get a room to himself. 

He’d never really recovered, after he, after  _ they’d  _ been ripped back to this timeline. And so, while he had been grateful to resume his friendship with the group, he still tended to hide himself away when he got the opportunity.

It finally cooled enough and he tilted the small bowl to his mouth. He hadn’t bothered to find where the spoons were kept, his hunger quickly getting the best of him. 

_ This is delicious. _

The broth warmed down his throat and settled him. Was that lemongrass? It was comforting in a way he hadn’t had in a long time, in a way he had thought he’d never get to experience again. It almost reminded him of…

“Sasuke?” 

His eyes snapped up to the doorframe, forgetting the hot bowl of soup he’d been carefully clutching. The liquid spilled over the lip on his palm and he let out a hiss as it toppled to the floor. 

Naruto was immediately on him, crouching low to grab at his injured hand. “Are you okay,” the blonde asked, moving too quickly to remember-, “that looks really painful!” 

Sasuke locked his eyes onto the tan, soft hands encircling his own injured one. He was frozen in place for just a moment, as the reality of his old friend crouching in front of him hit him like a thousand pound wave. Naruto’s deep blue eyes intent as he gingerly turned Sasuke’s pale hand over, inspecting his palm for more burns. 

It was too much. Sure, his hands were on fire, but it was his face that truly burned, maybe more. Maybe that was his heart on fire. It didn’t feel good, for once, the flames his old friend would set. It felt like the charred remains of something he’d forgotten, tamped down with a cold rain to be left behind. 

A thousand thoughts rushed to pour out of his mouth, and he clamped down on his tongue to keep them from spilling out. He pulled his hand away slowly, his skin tingling sharp where Naruto had held it. 

“I- it’s okay. I got it,” he mumbled and he stood to go grab a rag. 

Naruto seemed to catch on, not following him into the kitchen. Instead, the tall blonde man chose to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, holding the empty bowl limply in his left hand. 

He couldn’t make eye contact, his emotions were raging. And his hand fucking  _ hurt.  _ Everything had gone from zero to a hundred in a second and he didn’t even know where to start. 

So he just bent, circling at the spot on the rug despite having already absorbed most of the liquid. The stain was inevitable. 

“Heh, well, no worries- I think Kiba said it was his uncle's place so they’re not really gonna take the deposit or...uh anything…” Naruto rambling, not moving from where he stood over Sasuke. 

“I don’t care,” he heard himself mutter.

Naruto looked down, a puzzled expression contorting his...older face. Sasuke didn’t dare look, and yet his eyes were there anyways, taking in the sight of his friend. Of course, he’d seen Naruto’s photos online, and it’s not like he hadn’t...but...here he was right in front of him. And time had done nothing wrong to the man. It had only enhanced every beautiful feature that had already made themselves apparent in high school. 

He had never seen him age in the other world...he wondered what time had done for the man there...

“Huh?” Naruto asked, breaking Sasuke from his thoughts.

“What? Oh, uh...I..don’t care about the uh...stain,” Sasuke finished weakly, abandoning his half-assed attempt at carpet cleaning and averting his gaze once more. 

“You didn’t know...that,” Naruto pulled his free arm behind his neck, rubbing at it in that familiar sheepish way, “that I was gonna be here, did you?”

Having already backed up into his chair again, Sasuke hugged his knees closer to him before shaking his head. 

Naruto continued, rambling like he’d always done when he was nervous. At least one thing about the idiot hadn’t changed. 

“I, um, shoot. I...didn’t know you would be here...either.” 

Voices grew in volume as several people clamored their way back into the kitchen, reminding Sasuke that they weren’t alone. He tended to do that, when Naruto was around. Forget the rest of the world.

“Hey! Nart! You finally showed up, man!” Siugetsu called, dumping several grocery bags onto the table with an abhorrent lack of care. The first bag spilled over, various boxed meals falling onto the table. Siugetsu ignored it, his loose tank top falling off a thin shoulder as he slung an arm around Naruto, pulling the man in for a hug. 

Neji sidled up next to him at the table, looking between him and Naruto with an obvious question in his light eyes. Sasuke just shook his head again, hoping that would quell the brunette's curiosity.

No he had not known Naruto was going to be here. Sasuke wouldn’t have said yes in a million years to being stranded at the coast for a week if he  _ had  _ known. Obviously, Karin had done this on purpose. He honestly should have seen it coming. He invisibly smacked himself in the forehead for being such an idiot. 

His heart drummed. Sasuke tried to steady his breathing but it just got more labored as more and more noises surrounded him. He was made vaguely aware of someone’s hand on his shoulder, a flash of pink to his left. 

Was everyone in the kitchen now? Why was it so loud? 

The feeling intensified and he felt his vision begin to tunnel. He needed to get out of there. Away from all the questioning glances and the lingering smell of that miso soup that just reminded him of everything he’d thought he’d lost and the fucking bright colors reflecting off the glass table. 

So he moved, shuffling out from under the hand at his shoulder and away from the crowd of people. He heard a pause in conversation as he ran from the room, his cold hands coming up to cover his ears. Everything was just  _ too much.  _ Hot pricks of something dangerously close to tears jolted him even faster out into the hall. 

Not looking to see whose it was, he grabbed a plush hoodie from the wall hanger before ducking out the front door. He leant backwards onto it as it shut with a click. 

“Breath, dumbass,” he willed to his brain. Fluttering his eyes shut for a moment, he took in the salty air and the crash of the ocean against sand and rock not far from where he stood. It only calmed his racing thoughts marginally, but every breath cooled the explosions firing in his ears.

In.

Slowly, he realized that he was safe from being followed, so he set off at a casual pace towards the beach.

Out.

Away from the noise. Away from the man who’d set his world on fire and then left it to burn away at the foundation of his whole fucking being.

In.

Oh, god. He didn’t know if he could go back to the house now. What the fuck was he going to do-

Out, a shaky exhale through his mouth. Not calming. 

He shoved his shivering hands further into the hoodie, ignoring the gum wrappers its’ rightful owner had littered the pockets with. 

In-

“Hey, Sasuke! Wait up!” a breathless voice called after him.

Fuck.

Sasuke didn’t turn, he recognized the voice and huffed a small breath of air. He had fully intended on just walking until he couldn’t feel the burning rage in his limbs any longer, and no Sakura was gonna make him  _ talk about shit _ . And he couldn’t. Not about this.

_ Damnit. _

“I’m not in the mood, Sakura,” he muttered, continuing along in his long gait as she jogged up next to him. 

“You’re not in the mood to have friends?” Sakura nudged into his side. Sasuke had a short list of people in his entire existence that were allowed to touch him. He had never had any intention of letting her on that list, but her entire style of communication revolved around physical contact, and she sort of just ended up there. He didn’t truly mind, except for maybe right now.

“Yep,” he responded curtly.

That got a chuckle out of her, he could see her long bubblegum pink hair swaying in and out of the corners of his vision as she stepped quickly to keep up with him. 

“What’s going on with you, you’re even more...Sasuke than normal,” she prodded, trying to peer under the hood he’d pulled over his face, clearly unsuccessful in the thought that it would hide him as he tried to find some privacy.

“I don’t wanna talk about it-“ he started.

“Sasuke, we have to. I promise I didn’t know that Na-“

Sasuke turned to her then, sharply, a warning. Off limits topic. Like it had been for the five years leading up to now. Ever since-

“-Figures. Well, let’s talk about me then. I have a confession,” Sakura singsonged quietly, bumping into his shoulder once more. They neared the shore as they walked, small waves pushing up frothy foam to graze their feet. Sakura held her sandals with either hand, swinging them lightly.

Sasuke could feel his panic slipping away, he knew Sakura was distracting him on purpose. He might not be able to say it, but he appreciated it. He breathed out an amused puff. “Sakura...I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but I’m just not into you that way,” he teased under his breath.

A scoff, and a push, Sakura laughed out in annoyance. “ _ When _ are you going to let it go! That was...like..oh my god, I think it’s been like ten years now!” Sasuke shrugged in mock skepticism, getting another giggle from her. 

In his world, it had been about 22 years since Sakura had confessed her childhood crush on him, but he couldn’t tell her that.

“ _ Anyways,”  _ she continued, “I have been feeling a...oh, I don’t know.”

Sasuke just waited for her to continue as they made their way down the beach slowly. Each step into the sand was a step further away from the source of his current…

“I think I’m into Hinata!” Sakura finished with a grin, angling her head to catch Sasuke’s reaction. He raised a cool eyebrow at her, again grateful to be pulled from his thoughts.

“Who’s that?”

She swatted at his clothed-arm with a guffaw, “ _ Uchiha, you ass!  _ Five foot three, long silky hair, nice ass…? _ ” _

“Have you two even had a conversation before?” 

“Of course! She just doesn’t like to talk around big groups!” Sakura responded, defensive. 

He let the silence fall, hoping that she’d continue. Sasuke honestly didn’t have anything to say about the quiet girl. Sure they’d technically known each other since high school, but that didn’t mean they’d ever talked to each other before.

“No, honestly, I always thought she was boring. But after dating so many exciting people only to realize that the ‘exciting’ part… was kind of...the exact same part that was going to let them tire of me, or like, burn out just as quickly...so...maybe boring is what I need.”

“Well, Hinata is definitely the way to go then.”

She punched him in the arm, he bit his tongue to avoid flinching. It had hurt. Like it always did, he just still had too much pride after all these years to let it show.

“Don’t be an ass,” she hissed, barely able to disguise the humor in her voice.

“You said it first?”

“Yeah- but- ugh. Why do I even bother talking to you boys about anything. It’s not like you’ve gotten your shit together after all these years, why should I expect you to have any solid advice for me in the dating world.”

“What is that supposed to mean,” he said, suddenly cautious. His brain repeating the chant of “Off limits, off limits, off limits” at rapid fire.

Sakura looked back at him, eyes squinted in frustration- as if he was just supposed to read her mind. He widened his own in response, beckoning her to respond out loud.

“It  _ means _ \- actually...you know what, Sasuke? I can’t figure this out for you. You need to pair up with someone else with half a brain cell, and piece it together.” 

He scoffed, offended this time. 

“If you were just going to speak in riddles, why did you even come out here?” He demanded, kicking the shallow wave at her with his bare feet.

“Don’t you dare get this skirt wet!” She cautioned with a snarl. The spray had barely hit the back of her ankles, but that was enough to goad him into doing it again.

“THAT’S IT, UCHIHA!” she shouted before jumping at him. He was prepared for her attack, letting a small smirk play on his face as he deftly dodged to the left. Sakura, apparently, had forgotten his reflex speed from when they used to spar together in college, misjudging her aim and tumbling forward into the water.

When she stood again, it was like a sea witch emerging from the salty water. An ominous aura radiated from her soaked body. It took everything in him to quell the laughter in his throat at the sight of his drenched, angry pink friend. She was like a Furby in a Rage, but her punches would actually cause some serious damage. He had been on the receiving end of so many in the course of their quiet friendship. 

He could see she was holding back a smile too, as she lunged for him again. He dodged to the left again, but she was prepared this time. Her foot shot backwards and hooked solidly around his ankle. She swept it forward, taking him out. He tripped backwards into an oncoming wave, and sputtered the salty water from his nose as he came back out.

“Oh, now it’s on Haruno,” he growled, crouching low. 

With every shove and laugh, he felt his anger and the built up tension of the trip float away with the low ebb of the tide. At least for now. He had missed this feeling. Light. Only one other person had ever been able to bring it out in him...

After falling into the ocean for the hundredth time, covered in bruises and sand, he stumbled towards the shore. He sat down at the edge of the water line as Sakura picked up her dripping skirt and trudged up to stand next to him. She rested a hand on his shoulder as she replaced her sandals.

“I’m gonna head back up to the house, and clean the sand out of-“

“I don’t need to know where you have sand-“ 

She laughed again, shoved his shoulder as she moved away up the shore. He leaned forward to rest his chin on his knees as she called once more from a good distance away, 

“I meant it, Sasuke. Figure your shit out.” 

He didn’t tear his gaze away from the surf, moving in steadier now. The moon had finally come center stage in the sky, refracting small pieces of itself over the black waves. He couldn't hear anything else but the swish of water escaping into sand as Sakura finally left the beach. The ocean hadn’t been anything like this in the future, he didn’t realize how much he had missed it. It was peaceful,  _ he _ was peaceful. If only for a moment, and he’d take it either way. 

_ Figure my shit out. I wish it was that easy. Isn’t that what I’ve been trying to do for the past, I don’t know, eight years? Longer, if you count the time we were gone... _

He sat there for hours, maybe, he wasn’t sure how long. Watching the tide start to come up further and further. It began to touch his toes before he realized he was freezing. 

He made to sit up, and his joints were stiff from sitting so long, as if sand had gotten in between the muscle tissue itself.

He snuck back into the house, sure that it was well past midnight now. Normally, that wouldn’t mean a damn thing to the crazy group of friends he chose to associate with. But the drive had been exhausting and loud and even the most energetic amongst them had seemed to hit their peak hours prior.

His bare feet had long since dried off, but they still smacked loudly against the tile floor. From the living room he could just make out the sounds of people talking lowly, the glow of a lamp light peeking out from under the shuttered doors. 

He moved past it as quietly as he could and back up the stairs, skipping the step he’d noticed was squeaky on his first trip up them. At the top of the stairs he paused, taking in a breath before moving back into his room. The door stuck a little, but he moved through it relatively soundlessly. 

And then he paused, an unwilling tug at his lips that he refused to let form into a smile. 

In the brilliant moonlight flooding the room, he could clearly make out three of Naruto’s four sprawled, tanned limbs sticking out in all directions, as he lay sideways across the floor. His glowing tuft of yellow hair was a dead giveaway. Somehow in his sleep he’d managed to pull all of the blankets that had been folded next to the sleeping mat over and around himself. 

And his face, some peaceful in the pale blue glow. Devastatingly so, he thought. He pushed the thought away as quickly as it came, though. 

_ “What an idiot,”  _ he whispered to himself, wholly unable to tear his eyes away. He wouldn’t let himself think, just look...just for a minute. He’d thought he’d have the room to himself. He should be panicking again. But for reasons unbeknownst to him, his brain chose to be calm just now. 

In sleep, it was almost like their friendship hadn’t been strained to it’s breaking point. He could pretend, here, for a moment that they’d never drifted apart. 

His dark eyes swirled, he told himself that he wasn’t trying to memorize this scene as they lingered over Naruto’s high cheekbones, dusted with moonlight. Over his long,  _ pretty  _ eyelashes that fluttered as Naruto dreamed.

It was not the first time he’d ever seen Naruto sleep, far from it, over the course of his life. But it never ceased to amaze him, how those animated features could fall into such a perfect arrangement in sleep. Like two parts of one whole entire universe. One that Sasuke felt the loss of in every facet of his being. 

He ripped his gaze away with a small start, finally, as Naruto mumbled something unintelligible in his dream. Sasuke peeled his damp clothes off, slowly, wincing as a lump of sand from his hoodie hit the ground with a wet thwack. He pulled the first things he could grab from his strewn duffel bag on with a shiver. 

He dared one final glance at the sleeping form that would never be his to hold. Cold fingers still stuffed into the pockets of the hoodie curled unconsciously, looking for a grip into soft, blonde locks. 

“No, I can’t do this,” echoed in his head. Were those his own words?

And he turned from the room, feeling the cold he’d dreaded creep back into his bones with every step he took down towards the empty kitchen. He resumed his spot in that wicker chair at the end of the table and laid his head forward against the glass.

It was going to be a long night. 

Memories he’d buried deep dug themselves from shallow graves against his will. 

“I can’t do this,” was loud.

Loud enough for him to raise his head, making sure no one had followed him into the kitchen. It was dark, save for the blue-white of moonlight that had crept after him. He was still alone. Pulling the hoodie back over his head, he lay it down again and shut his eyes. 

_ That  _ memory, the one that had been the beginning of the end of everything, rushed forward. He could do nothing to fight against it playing, projected onto the hollow of his insides.

_ “Sas...you,” 18 year old Naruto slurred, his cheerful gaze distant as he peered into the room from his relaxed position against the doorframe. “You...look so…pretty in the moonlight.”  _

_ Sasuke felt his cheeks redden impossibly more than they already were, and he hoped against all hopes that Naruto would blame it on the alcohol. He pulled the comforter closer to him over his knees, tucked his chin on top and daring a glance up at his best friend through dark eyelashes. _

_ He was worried about what he might say, tongue loosened by the cheap gin they’d snuck from his parents liquor cabinet before they’d dashed from the party. Their party. The one both of their parents had thrown together for them for their high school graduation, complete with an embarrassing slideshow of photos that Sasuke hadn’t even known existed.  _

_ It had delighted everyone, including a beaming Naruto. The blonde had no sense of shame, so it made sense that Sasuke had inherited enough for the both of them. _

_ His flush, therefore, had started early in the day. He wondered, drunkenly, if he’d just burst the blood vessels in his cheeks from blushing all day. Luckily, Naruto had caught on to his growing discomfort at the crowd and the attention and had pulled on his wrist with a wink before rushing them out the back door. _

_ So, here they were, hours and many shots later, in Naruto’s bedroom.  _

_ “Idiot, you’re...drunk,” Sasuke muttered, barely a whisper. But it was loud enough, it was just the two of them in the whole house. Apparently Naruto’s parents had gotten a little too drunk themselves and had stayed in Sasuke’s parents’ guest room. _

_ The old, small home was just as much Sasuke’s as it was Naruto’s at this point. They’d spent all of their teen years taking up space in each other’s houses, it only made sense that their parents would too.  _

_ But it had never been this quiet, not ever. The wind pushed through the oak tree towering over the front yard, one of the longer branches occasionally scratching at Naruto’s window. It interrupted the full moon’s path, and the dappled light made the room glitter with dusted blues in the dark.  _

_ Maybe it was just his own inebriated state. He was mesmerized by the way the shadows danced over the bridge of his blonde friends’ nose. Jealous of how the light got to touch that warm face- _

_ “Oh, yeah, I’m...definitely...also drunk...what was that…” he thought. _

_ Naruto moved closer.  _

_ “No...I mean,” he let out that bright laugh, the very same one that had pulled Sasuke from so many dark places in his short life already, “I mean...yeah, haha, I am. But um…” Closer. Sasuke’s grip in the comforter stiffened. The room swirled with patches of light and it was enough that he lost the trajectory of his friend’s too quick movement.  _

_ Did he say it was quiet? Scratch that. Somewhere, maybe outside, a pounding hit a tempo that was deafening. Maybe...maybe that was inside his body. He didn’t really have time to check. Naruto breathed warm in front of him. He smelled like gin and orange juice and mint toothpaste and that lavender dryer sheet that he’d started keeping in his pocket because there was literally one time that Sasuke had said that it smelled good years ago. _

_ “Sas,” Naruto repeated.  _

_ Sasuke looked up into the blue. _

_ Naruto was there. Filling his vision. His breath touched the corners of Sasuke’s mouth and suddenly the comforter against his skin was too hot. He didn’t dare move. He didn’t dare break whatever spell was being cast here. He could live and die in this moment and it would all be terrible and okay and perfect and too warm and too terrifying and just right.  _

_ Don’t move.  _

_ Could Naruto not hear his thoughts? He said DON’T MOVE. The idiot pressed forward anyways. Blood rushed into his ears.  _

_ “-ske...can I?” Naruto paused, his hands pressed to either side of Sasuke’s bent knees on the bed. From here, and he dared look because what if he never knew what the middle of Naruto’s brilliant irises looked like (a hurricane, bolts of white lightning speckling the inside of the spiraling blue), his whole world was Naruto. Just like it had always been, really. He was blessed to exist in it.  _

_ “Just...once, just for right now,” Naruto continued, slurring just a little. Sasuke willed his lips to move in response, but nothing came out. He willed Naruto to slow down, his world had condensed and expanded at too rapid a rate and his heart couldn’t keep up.  _

_ He’d never thought about this.  _

_ Warm, soft lips touched his and panic took over his body. It wasn’t the right reaction, he realized instantly, unable to keep his body from stiffening. He knew the reaction Naruto had wanted was not him white-knuckled the comforter and imploding on himself. It was the only one he could give.  _

_ How was he supposed to be prepared for something like this? It was too perfect. It hurt. It...was just too much. _

_ Something in his own eyes must have said what he couldn’t. Surely the fear reflected in those ocean blues was that of his own. Naruto backed away, taking the warmth with him. He was mumbling out an apology that Sasuke would never hear. He didn’t need to, Naruto’s hands were up as if to prove his innocence as he crept slowly from the room.  _

_ “Wait,” but Naruto was gone. Sasuke fell asleep alone in a bed that wasn’t his. _

_ And then, as if the universe refused to accept the decisions they’d made _ ,  _ Sasuke had opened his eyes to a planet that had wholeheartedly not belonged to him.  _

He remembered calling out to Naruto, momentarily forgetting the pained interaction they’d had the evening prior, and hearing a panicked response from another room. __

_ Naruto came bursting through the metal door, eyes wild and his hair not much better. _

_ Sasuke turned on him, “What did you do?” _

_ “What did  _ **_I_ ** _ do?! Bastard! What did  _ **_you_ ** _ do?”  _

_ They lashed out at each other, Sasuke gesturing widely at the unfamiliar glimmering city outside of the window, the tall oak tree long gone. It was replaced by a gleaming steel tower, and he had no idea what any of it meant.  _

_ “I don’t know what to fucking do! I just fell asleep after you...after you...tried to…” he trailed off, suddenly awkward at the painful reminder of the previous nights events, “and then I woke up! And this!” He looked on as something that looked like a floating bus sped past the window.  _

_ “Woah,” Naruto breathed out, his eyes bulging at the sight.  _

And so they’d set off, exploring the world. A world without their parents, their friends. In the years that came to pass, it was that extreme, sudden loss that would come between them. 

At first, they had made do. Learning and adapting to the strange new ways of a world 200 years in the future from their own, coming home at night from their strange jobs and sharing a meal if they could afford it. It wasn’t easy. They had stuck out like tourists in every way, and it hadn’t been a forgiving world. 

The laws were harsh, and every misstep cost them money they literally didn’t have. Sasuke, just shy of his eighteenth birthday, had searched long and hard for a job in a world where the upper class truly ruled. He’d ended up having to settle, working two jobs at a laughable wage just cleaning. Just cleaning the endless sheets of metal that wrapped the city. 

Neither of them had ever found the time to mourn, really. Sasuke bottled it all up, exhausted from his work and the constant adapting.

It haunted him, though. The knowledge that somewhere, his family had woken to an empty bed, one belonging to their son who’d never said goodbye. It had gutted him. 

He had felt Naruto’s attempts to comfort him, to bridge the distance growing between them. And he’d been unable to stop himself from lashing out. He couldn’t cope. 

He had realized, far too late, that the feeling the crept in his chest at the sight of the blonde, the way his presence just radiated the sense of home, was an inoperable love. 

And after deserting his family, he knew he didn’t deserve it. 

So, two years into their isolation in the future, he’d left. He’d packed a bag late at night, yet again leaving an empty bed for someone he loved to find in the morning. He’d taken a bus to the edge of the city and then walked on foot, traveling the strange future and stopping in another city when he’d run out of money.

Sasuke was 30 years old, cold, alone, and dying when the universe had changed it’s mind. 

He’d awoken, yet again, in a bed that wasn’t his. But, it was Naruto’s. He’d come back to the night after their graduation party. Slammed back into a world where his parents were alive, he wasn’t thousands of miles away from his best friend, where he was 18 and young and stupid again.

But this was Sasuke, and he still wasn’t done running. Naruto had come back too, and they’d stayed apart. Their parents had noticed the change, in their friendship and their demeanors. They’d been stranded for twelve years! They had been adults in their world. The shock hit them all over again.

“So here we are,” he thought with a wrench of his heart. They’d gone to seperate colleges and he’d watched Naruto from afar as he acclimated back to this world as if he’d never left. Years passed, again, but they felt slower here. He couldn’t explain it. Every time he’d see Naruto hit a milestone in his life, it hurt. Knowing that he wouldn’t, couldn’t be there as his friend grew into his career, as he got married for the first time. When he got divorced. When he moved back to their hometown and became reacquainted with their old friend group. 

He should have seen this coming, Karin trying to get them back together. Karin, along with his hawk-eyed brother, Itachi, had been the only one’s they’d told. About whatever had happened to them. A glitch in the universe.

When Sasuke finally fell asleep, who knows long later, it was deep.

His eyes didn’t flicker open until the sun was high in the sky, seagulls chattering their hearts out just outside the open window. The arm he’d unconsciously tucked underneath his head as a makeshift pillow was dead, the painful tingling of blood setting a painful tone for the morning. 

A throat clearing from the doorway brought him from his preoccupation, and he rolled over to face the intruder. 

“Heh, sorry about stealing your...uh...for taking up the space...last night,” Naruto mumbled, ducking his eyes as he spoke. He held out one of the two brimming cups of coffee he was poorly balancing in either hand. 

Sasuke was sure he looked l-

“You look like shit,” Naruto laughed quietly as he set the mug down. 

So the mind reading was still in-tact apparently.

Sasuke was awake now, shaking out the still tingling arm. “You’re one to talk. I can see the drool stain on your shirt,” he mumbled, motioning at the damp collar with the ridiculously full coffee mug.

“Hey! You know what…” the blonde trailed off with an easy laugh. 

Sasuke sipped at the mug, in awe at how quickly Naruto moved on from things. Like their friendship. 

“Hey, I’m sorry for just showing up,” he continued, a but of unease creeping back into his tone, “I can leave if you-“

Sasuke shook his head, “No, it’s...fine. Um, I’m glad that you’re...here.” He didn’t dare look up, eyes trained on the rippling surface of the coffee, “I was just….surprised.”

Naruto’s eyes brightened ever so slightly at that, taking a sip from his own mug. Sasuke watched as the clumsy, beautiful idiot still managed to spill a few drops onto the white tee. 

It felt hollow, like easing back into familiar routines but not being able to look to closely at anything, else it might shatter. He didn’t know what would make Naruto run for the hills again. Or himself. And if he did, would it be another five years, ten years before they’d see each other again? 

And yet, it was alighting parts of Sasuke he’d thought had long died. Sure, he had his reformed friendship with Sakura. And he’d actually gotten quite close with his family after they’d been sent back, hellbent on not taking them for granted ever again.

But no one had ever truly understood him like Naruto had. No one ever could, after all they’d gone through.

Naruto spoke low, as if he were afraid to spook a wild animal, “I missed you, bastard.”

Sasuke lowered the mug against the table, unsure of his own ability to hold it anymore. He realized, if he didn’t face it now, he’d never get a chance to stop running. Obsidian eyes met hopeful blue ones. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, the sound barely escaping his lips. His face was hot, and he wished he could blame the steam from the coffee where it hit his cheeks. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he kept his head firmly locked in place. 

He didn’t deserve to look at Naruto, after all he’d done. 

He heard a rustle of fabric, the shuffle of a chair and a shuddered breath before seeing blonde tufts appear in front of him. Naruto smiled up at him from underneath the glass table, tears streaming down his tanned face. 

A tear dared fall from his eye as he felt his lips pull into an unwilling smile. 

Naruto wavered in his precariously crouched position under the table, shooting a hand out against Sasuke’s knee to steady himself. Sasuke’s hand moved to cover it before he had a chance to stop himself. Naruto’s skin was damp and warm from where he’d held the steaming mug of coffee. He felt tension he didn’t know he’d been carrying ease from his shoulders. 

Naruto moved his hand over the fabric covering Sasuke’s knee, sending a shiver through his body, before looking back up at Sasuke through the glass. “Do you know what I missed most about this world?” he asked, a mischievous glint to his eye. 

Sasuke stared down at the man in awe. He knew it couldn’t be that easy. Despite the fact that Naruto was so willing to forgive him for running to the ends of the Earth, Sasuke knew he would be spending the rest of his life, in any world, making it up to him. 

For now, though, he simply raised an eyebrow while he waited for Naruto to fill in the blanks.

“Sweatpants!” Naruto laughed, his eyes crinkling, “And miso soup! And fucking trees!”

Sasuke’s hand didn’t move from its place overtop of Naruto’s once, as he let Naruto ramble on. Maybe one day, he’d tell Naruto how he felt. Maybe one day their friendship would dissolve the sutures that kept their wounds from healing. He hoped for all of those things. 

Regardless of the outcome, though, he knew he was finally ready to stop running. His home was right here, his pulse beating right under Sasuke’s palm.  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments always make my caffeine altered heart swell! Otherwise, thank you so much for just reading!
> 
> Always feel free to come hang out over on [ tumblr! ](https://www.ariesantagonist.tumblr.com)


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